ENERGY: Encina power station running 'all out' to replace nuke power

While the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station
is shut down for extensive repairs
, all five turbines in the 58-year-old Encina Power Station in Carlsbad have been fired up, an attorney for the plant's owner said.

Encina's five turbines run only occasionally, but a three-month outage at San Onofre has pressed the 965-megawatt, natural gas-fired plant into service. For
NRG Energy Inc.
, the plant's owner, having the plant run only emphasizes the need for the new, more efficient plant it has proposed for a nearby property. Opponents fear exactly the same thing.

When asked about the operation of the plant on previous occasions, NRG has declined to say whether it's running. Officials each time said they couldn't answer because the company is publicly traded.

"With the SONGS outage right now, units 1 through 5 are running all out at Encina,"
McKinsey said
. "In fact, NRG had to put off a scheduled maintenance shutdown to keep them running."

Encina units 4 and 5 are called into service occasionally, but units 1-3 run on only the hottest days of the year, when everyone in San Diego turns on their air conditioners and electricity demand peaks. But a steam leak and subsequent equipment problems at San Onofre have kept the 2,150-megawatt nuclear plant off line for three months and counting. Regulators had to scramble to make sure there was enough power to keep the lights on ---- including, it seems, getting Encina firing on all its turbines.

The Encina plant was originally built in 1954 as an oil-burning plant, though it now uses natural gas. It uses water from the nearby Agua Hedionda Lagoon to cool its equipment, though it must end that practice by 2017 or be shut down.

NRG would prefer to replace the older plant with a newer, more efficient gas-fired plant on the same property, but it faces stiff opposition from the city of Carlsbad and environmental groups. Last month, a member of the Energy Commission gave
a preliminary approval
for the new plant.

George Piantka, director of environmental services for NRG, said the operation of Encina only emphasizes the need for a new plant.

The shutdown of San Onofre "also supports the need for, and importance of, in-basin generation that Encina provides in support of grid reliability," he wrote in an email.

Julie Baker helped found Power of Vision, a grass-roots organization representing locals who oppose the plant. She said the preliminary approval from the Energy Commission was founded on need, though none of the major utilities in the state has signed an agreement to buy the power.

"We're somewhat puzzled," she said.

The full Energy Commission will hold a hearing on May 31 in Sacramento.